Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Bloomberg:U.S. Foreclosures Jump 57% as Homeowners Walk Away -- U.S. foreclosure filings jumped 57 percent and bank repossessions more than doubled in March from a year earlier as adjustable mortgages increased and more owners gave up their homes to lenders.

More than 234,000 properties were in some stage of foreclosure, or one in every 538 U.S. households, Irvine, California-based RealtyTrac Inc., a seller of default data, said today in a statement. Nevada, California and Florida had the highest foreclosure rates. Filings rose 5 percent from February.

About $460 billion of adjustable-rate loans are scheduled to reset this year, according to New York-based analysts at Citigroup Inc. Auction notices rose 32 percent from a year ago, a sign that more defaulting homeowners are ``simply walking away and deeding their properties back to the foreclosing lender'' rather than letting the home be auctioned, RealtyTrac Chief Executive Officer James Saccacio said in the statement...

The abandoned house was empty and worn, its overgrown lawn covered in trash, a sorry sight in an otherwise well-kept neighborhood. I don't know the particular story of that particular house, but I do know that plenty of folks are leaving homes like it behind, and leaving a financial mess along with it...

California - One in every 204 households received a foreclosure notice

Florida - One in every 282 households received a foreclosure notice

Arizona - One in every 283 households received a foreclosure notice

-----

MSNBC:

Sinking housing market maroons homeowners -- As America’s housing market has foundered, homeowners who bought into newly rising projects at just the wrong time have found themselves marooned in abandoned developments...

Coalition squeezing Congress in mortgage mess -- Democrats crafting a housing rescue plan are under pressure from liberal groups to push aggressive measures that would force lenders to let homeowners restructure their mortgages...